Does anyone have the USDM armrest?

Just wondering how it is in terms of quality and feel.
The cupholders look flimsy in pictures but I like the raised height and the twin compartment as the 3rd gens have a distinct lack of storage space

I do. They are not flimsy in a sense that the build quality on it is actually very decent so you would be hard pressed to break them, however, they are clearly designed for super size American cups and don't hold much Australian stuff very well. I don't really use the cup holders for this reason, they just don't reliably hold most drinks here. That being said, the clasp on mine is broken so with mine I just lift it up rather than hold the clasp to lift up like it's supposed to. I opened it up and the reason is a spring is missing, like our Verada lids sometimes do. The Australian clasp is completely different so I'd have to buy another unit and swap the clasp out, and I haven't yet. I haven't heard of anyone else's doing this so I don't know if that's common or not. It seems like it wouldn't be, the mechanism is quite sturdy overall and having opened it up, I'm not really sure how it broke. Someone else opened it up previously perhaps to clean it and broke it? Who knows.

For the remainder of the unit, I highly recommend it. The build quality on the extra compartment is very, very good. It's felt lined and the clasp is very sturdy and feels great opening in both directions. If you didn't know, it opens sideways, towards passenger or towards driver, either or. Also, as you may know, there are cup holders on the front and back, four in total. I didn't consider/realise this until a while after I got my unit, but what happens if you have the rear cupholders out and you lift the unit to get inside the lower compartment? You'd break it, right? Nope, ol' Mitsubishi thought of that, the rear cupholders disengage the clasp mechanism so you can't actually lift it unless they're pushed back in. Clever!

All that aside, the best reason to have it is simply because of the raised height, it is WAY more comfortable for me personally at that height. I can rest my arm on it and easily reach the steering wheel even at the maximum height.

I could take some pics of the unit if you want any specific information?

I'm from the US and I love it, the front cup holders I wouldn't trust too much with something tall. But the height of the armrest portion of it and the storage space is definitely a plus. +1 to everything Jakeys said too :)

As far as the rear cup holders disengaging the mechanism, all the one's I've seen so far don't do it, that may only be an issue of being broken, so if you were to import one, don't be surprised if it doesn't work right. It stops before those cup holders would break anyways.

I'm from the US and I love it, the front cup holders I wouldn't trust too much with something tall. But the height of the armrest portion of it and the storage space is definitely a plus. +1 to everything Jakeys said too :)

As far as the rear cup holders disengaging the mechanism, all the one's I've seen so far don't do it, that may only be an issue of being broken, so if you were to import one, don't be surprised if it doesn't work right. It stops before those cup holders would break anyways.

Interesting. As mentioned, I opened mine up to try to fix the clasp and had a look at how that mechanism works. The cupholder mechanism definitely does work on mine and seemed quite sturdy. But I only have my own to go off. It might be that it's actually the clasp that is breaking at the front (Spring issue, Veradas here in Aus do it on the pockets on our centre consoles), like mine has, because if the clasp doesn't engage any more then the cupholders being out and stopping the clasp mechanism from disengaging obviously won't matter. Hard to say either way.

There isn't too many of these, and definitely not ones that are kept in nice shape, at least where I'm at :P.
But nonetheless, I never saw it as an issue except once when I forgot there was a drink back there, it just so happened to be just ice left luckily. :)
Now that you say it, my clasp in the front did break, I just remembered. It still holds it shut and opens if needed, so maybe that's where mine's not working as it should.
But definitely be careful when looking for one.

Thanks for the info guys.

Jakey have you been able to compare the height of it to the KL/W armrest? As from what I can tell these sit higher than the older models on account of rear vents.

And does it open to either side after setting up a special way, or does it open either or all the time?

I haven't, no. It's pretty huge though, I'm confident it would be taller.

And no it works that way as is, it has a button on either side which opens it in that direction.

Does it look at all awkward or out of place in the interior of the car?
In the pics it almost looks aftermarket rather than OEM, but might just be a matter of being used to a smaller armrest

No, it fits in perfectly. There is nothing aftermarket looking about it, it has the same plastics as the rest of the car and uses all the same mounts, everyone who doesn't know these cars well enough to identify it's USDM assumes it is a Verada or GTV specific feature. It is literally OEM, after all. The leather on mine (Diamante VR-X black) has come from a different supplier from the Aussie GTV seats, however you expect this, it is not really noticeable. The picture below doesn't show the difference either, you really need to see in person. Put it this way, you know how OCD I am about my car and I'm not worried in the slightest. Same stitching style, basically the same colour, just a subtle difference in the grain of the leather.

To put it in perspective, the factory armrest looks really weird and out of place to me now on other people's cars. Here is a picture, it's not great but it's the best one I have of it that I could find as I don't have access to the Facebook AMC group any more where I used to put all my pics. Note the button, when you push it, it engages a hinge on the passenger side and opens towards the passenger. When shut, there is an identical button on the passenger side which does the same thing on the driver's side and opens towards the driver. If you imagine it split straight down the middle, the mechanism is mirrored on both sides. It's pretty smart.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/906452_10200968893928346_1725701876_o.jpg

Thanks Jakey.

Where did you get it from, eBay US?

They are not particularly cheap, especially with the shipping rates

Yes, sort of. I had to buy two, one I bought the whole unit with grey lid, and then I had to buy the black lid seperately, I lucked out finding that on its own. Got it here, swapped over the leather (Unscrews from the rest, easy replacement) and I actually have spare grey leather for a USDM one at home somewhere now as a result should I ever sell it/both.

I don't remember what I paid for each, but the total cost came to about $150 shipped. From memory I think the black lid actually cost more than the entire unit with grey lid did.

About $150 seems what it'd cost today as well including shipping.
Seems pretty expensive for an armrest.
Any idea what the cost of retrofitting the rear A/C vents from a KW would be?

No clue, you're leaving my territory of knowledge there!

Thanks Jakey for all the help :)